My Favorite Riders of July

                                         

AND THEN THERE'S THAT!

When you have a great, great ride, you don't want it to end.  And then, at the end of the ride, there is just one more thing which puts the icing on the cake.  My rider was from the great state of Kansas. (where I love their wind turbines.)  She had just been in an accident in another Uber who was side swapped.  Everyone seemed to be okay, but she needed another ride which turned into a fifty-nine minute extravaganza.

Having just taught some hair styling, the salon owner entered my car with a suitcase a couple bags and a pole with the above mannequin and a male mannequin head.  My rider's initials are JK and at the end of the ride she thanked me, "For turning her night around." She was my 80th ride in three days and she will be remembered as long as I am driving.

One paragraph cannot explain this successful, entertaining, inspirational woman. She runs at least four businesses, two which are a salon/coffeeshop in the same building with have separate entrances, but are joined together. A boutique and an event center are the other two businesses and last year she did make-up and hair for 190 weddings. She talks fast, works hard, and obviously loves what she does.  She regularly uses social media and does videos on what she's doing which she calls, "Jen Live." She interviewed and recorded me for several minutes about the ride and the things in my car. She has three girls who are growing up with an incredible role model. (One daughter, who was wearing a mask in kindergarten during COVID, also wore lipstick to school.)

When we reached her destination, she handed me the above head, whose name is Lily. She said, "I want you to have this to display in your car." She signed it and wrote, "And then there's that," her favorite saying. We took some pictures together and I walked towards the car holding this head and a guy walking on the sidewalk gave me the strangest look.  I couldn't stop laughing.  Two years ago, another woman from Kansas, pulled out her Super Bowl ring and the picture of that ring has entertained thousands of riders.  Will history repeat itself! Thank you JK., I'll take care of Lily for you.

ATG

The four young women from Kentucky were in town for a bachelorette party. I had a great time entertaining them and after I gave them a trip around the world with my 28 foreign bills, I said, "I even had one woman who recorded me naming all the countries." One woman hilariously said, "I may or may not have done that." I'm sure she did and this woman was the one was talking to the most.  I asked her what her name was and she said, "Autumn, but I go by ATG." When I asked what that meant she said, "Autumn The Great." Her friend said she was too modest to explain, but, "she is so positive, enthusiastic and she always made sure her friends come first.  She is currently working in a kind of "drug prevention" job, but with her attitude and enthusiasm I'm sure she can succeed in anything she wants to do.  After all, her friends call her, ATG, and I bet she has a great future ahead of her.

50 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

My first ride in this short month was a couple from Connecticut and they had just celebrated fifty years of marriage.  I asked them, "What is the secret of a successful marriage?" He answered, "Marrying Mrs. Right. Even when we disagree, she gets around it."  They had both come from difficult childhoods and we discussed how they have changed that for their two kids.  They met at a dance and she told her friend immediately, "I'm going to marry him."  Two minutes after pulling out of their driveway to head to the airport, the wife realized she left her phone in the house.  We turned around and her husband was calm and we just continued to talk sports.  He went to school with Patriot's great coach, Bill Belichick, and he gets together with him and other school mates from time to time. They both have spent their careers in education, it's too bad they aren't teaching marriage to others.

"JUST A PHASE OF LIFE"

I had an interesting ride with a man who moved from California to South Carolina.  He admitted that ten years ago he had a serious problem with liquor which resulted in him going to the emergency room seven times. What changed his life is when he fell in his house after drinking and his brother found him with a bad cut on his face. He decided he had enough and immediately called his insurance company and put himself in a 25 day recovery program.  He's been liquor free for ten years and he bought a local business and is doing very well. He explained that, "Some people call it addiction, but I look at it as just, a phase of life." He's done with that part of his life.

"A DIFFERENT KIND OF THERAPIST"

After getting a business degree in the 1980's, she discovered that she really didn't like the job she had.  She needed some help dealing with losing a member of her family and visited several counselors, but she wasn't happy with the help she received.  This was her motivation to go back to school and become a marriage and family counselor.  When she sees her patients, she gives them her undivided attention and does not take notes.  She explained, "I want them to know, that I have problems just like they do and that they have my full attention." 

She was a delight to speak with and had some observations on being a frequent user of Uber/Lyft.  "The worst drivers are in San Francisco, some of them don't even greet you." She explained that she has a good rating and she should be treated as a good passenger.  She told me of two drivers she's had that were so good, she still knew their first names and one was ten years ago. They made a lasting impression on her."  She made a lasting impression on me and I know she will continue to help people in the mental health field for a long time.

WHAT DOES THE RACE CAR DRIVER BRING TO HIS RACES?  A MANNEQUIN!

My male passenger complimented me on having the mannequin in my car, because, "No one has one in their car."  He told me that his friend is a racecar driver and for every race he brings a mannequin and sets it up in his tent where his team works out of.  During the year, he even changes the mannequin's clothes, although he didn't indicate if it was male or female.  If a guy driving a Porsche can have a mannequin, why not an Uber driver?

The Lawnmower Test on Vacation

Very few people go on vacation and mow a lawn, unless it's your vacation home.  Heading out to Colorado my wife and I planned on helping our son and his wife with a number of things.  I knew that my son has never liked mowing the lawn, so I figured I would mow the lawn for him.

My son, 31, and I were standing on the front lawn and he has an electric mower, which I've never used before. Five years ago I bought the below push lawnmower when we had no grass or little grass and I've enjoyed that it's quiet, easy to operate, and no hassle with gas or oil.

I wanted to try out an electric mower and this was a great opportunity.  I should have taken a selfie of my son and I out on the lawn as he explained to me how to mow the lawn.  This is something I did to him maybe 15-17 years ago. The lawn looked good after I mowed and it was pretty easy to push around, although it was noisier than I'm used to. My son made me laugh when he said to me, "It's a lot easier when you do it." He did the trim and I did the lawn.

On the next weekend, my wife and I travelled about a half hour away to our daughter's house and I offered to mow their lawn. It was a gas mower which is pictured below.  It was much, much louder and I had a few problems with it.  I've always had difficulty starting a gas mower and that hasn't changed.  My daughter's boyfriend started it for me.  I did manage to snap off a small piece that covered the gas tank and after I was done they said something about a small rose tree, which I didn't really see.

The winner of the lawnmower test in Colorado was: the electric mower.  Will I give up my push mower and switch over to an electric mower sometime in the near future? It's possible it will happen, or maybe we'll get a TV first or maybe a barbecue grill.  It's not happening this month for sure, but I did learn something in Colorado.

Driving on Rt. 70 in Kansas

One of the biggest surprises on our trip to Colorado last year was driving in Kansas.  It was 100 degrees and the amount of bugs on the front of the car and the windshield was unlike anything I've ever seen.  However, I loved it due to the following: the large wind turbines, the flat land, blue skies you could see forever, and the realization that really the only thing out there were hard working farmers.

I told a number of people who live out there or who have been on Rt. 70 and basically they thought I was nuts.  I found it very peaceful, relaxing, and beautiful.  Would I feel the same way on my second trip to Colorado? I was looking forward to finding out.

It didn't take long for me to have an answer.  There were clouds, but you could see forever.  It was early morning just after the sun came up and I think I had a pretzel rod in my mouth.  It was a very calm sight until I turned a corner and a I saw the wind turbines busy at work. It's a pretty good picture considering I was driving.

On the way home, Route 70 had something different for me. Everything seemed normal, it was early morning, my wife was sleeping and it was calm and peaceful and then...fog.  Without a doubt the most fog I've ever seen. I could see nothing in front of me unless I looked at the road and visibility was only about two car lengths.  For 15-20 minutes I drove without looking to the right or left and I kept hoping my wife would stay asleep. A few cars did pass me eventually, but this was not what I was looking for.

 

I would have loved to take a picture, but I wasn't going to move my hands.  The picture above is pretty accurate on what I was seeing.  If you haven't driven out there, it's something to experience.

THINGS I LEARNED ON MY COLORADO VACATION

There are some things I learned on vacation that I already forgot about, but, it is the thought that counts and I did learn them, but I did not retain that knowledge.  Below is what I learned:

This was my plate of Japanese curry.  I had never had any kind of curry, but my daughter's boyfriend made it and it was pretty good.  It was a lot like stew which I love and I enjoy rice too which was under the curry.

These two dogs, Loki on the left, (our son's) and Odin on the right, (ours) were not mad at Thor in this picture. They take better pictures than this, but I learned that dogs do not like fireworks.  For several days around July 4th, they were very unhappy and scared.  Hours before the fourth, these two were cuddled up to us on the same bed and were clearly upset every time a firecracker went off.

First off, take a look at the pile of cream cheese on this bagel! "The smear" is spectacular and it's real! What annoys me sometimes when I buy a sub or bagel, it's not cut all the way through.  I learned on the trip that it is done intentionally with bagels so it's easier to put the cream cheese on.

The same guy who cooked curry for me, taught me how to play chess.  My first and last game of chess was in Colorado and it's not a simple game.  Many of the pieces look the same and they all have superpowers to get around the board.  You would think they would just give you a list of the super powers, but noooooo! It was interesting and I think he really enjoyed beating me.

THE DESK TREADMILL: I was looking forward to seeing this.  My daughter told me that she got one for under her desk at home so she could exercise while she worked.  From how she explained it, (clearly her fault), she had this mini treadmill, but when I asked to see it, it turned out to be very large and leans against a wall in her office.  

BUYING GAS WITH A ROOM KEY: If you are wondering, it does not work.  After arriving in Kansas City after driving all day, I ran out from the hotel to get gas. I took my wife's credit card and I had the room key and I was tired.  I arrived at the station and took out the card and it did not work.  I turned it around, upside down, right side in, you name it and it did not work. It was an odd card with no company name on it, but these days nothing surprises me.  I texted my wife and asked her what kind of card it was and asked if there was a magic password.  She figured it out about the same time I did, you can't buy gas with a room key.

Some Things You Usually Don't See

It seems when I'm away I see unusual things, but maybe these things are always around and I'm too busy to notice them when I'm home? On our trip to and from Colorado, I saw this:

You have to give some credit to Wheeler's creator.  This is a very creative and amusing way to tell people what they need to do.  There should be more signs like this in the world.  For someone who is "naturally funny," what a great business that would be? You could switch the world over to only funny signs. (STOP: IT'S NOT A REQUEST) 

You have probably seen a double rainbow in your life, but it's not very common.  I did not take this picture, but one of my daughter's did take it. It looks like something you would see on television, not that I know much about what is on television.

Let's play a game: you have a convenience store to open at a gas station and you have to come up with a name, where would the name "STINKER" be on your list of names? This store is located in Colorado.  I did not go inside, it didn't seem very inviting to me.  Years ago, when I worked for Auto Trader Magazines, I received a call from a store that wanted to sell our magazines. I needed some information from them, so I asked, "What is the name of your store?" They said, "I can't tell you." I said, "I need the name to set up a delivery to you." I CAN'T TELL YOU how this conversation turned out, but they didn't sell our magazines for very long.  

We were walking in the town of Golden, Colorado and I saw a water fountain.  On the bottom of the fountain was a fountain for dogs.  I've only had a dog for two years, maybe this is a common thing? I walked back to take this picture, because I thought it was a really good idea.

We all have seen the top of a can of coke, although this may be the first picture of the top of a can of coke you've seen.  This is a good way to introduce my next blog about, "Things I did not know." I didn't know about the dog fountain and I had no clue that the top thing on the soda can you open up was designed to put a straw in the little circle.  If I could put a straw there now I would-wait let me use my immense technical skills to show you where.  See above line... Nope, I couldn't put anything to the left of the picture.  

Final explanation: The hole you would drink out of is covered by the top piece that opens the hole. The small circle you can probably put in two straws, one for you and one for me.  I didn't know it was made for that, how about you?

Going to the Movies in 2033

(Interrupting my Colorado vacation blogs, my wife and I traveled into the future in New Jersey this past weekend)

 I was looking for Michael J. Fox to walk down the hallway at the movie theatre. (Some of his movies were called "Back to the Future")  My wife and I had the chance to see the final "Indiana Jones" movie in a special place: Menlo Park Mall in Edison, New Jersey. It was 43 years ago that we met each other while working at the Burger King there.  The Burger King is no longer there, but we were there together this weekend.

We went to the AMC Dine-In Theatre and had no clue what we were about to see, other than Harrison Ford's last hurrah.  When we opened the door, we saw this bar below.

I was looking around thinking we walked into the wrong place, but this was the theatre.  On our right side was a register and one worker to get our tickets. Nothing really looked right and my wife asked if they still took cash and they did. The young girl then confused me when she asked, "Where would you like to sit?" I wanted to tell her, "Right here in the lobby", but we picked out two seats.  It was the first movie and I think there was only five of us in the theatre.

There was a small kiosk that looked like it used to give out popcorn, but there was no worker there.  You had to order your food and they delivered it to you and it wasn't Uber Eats or Doordash either. They serve all kinds of food there. The hallways were on the dark side and they were empty. The biggest surprise was opening the theatre door and seeing lounge chairs and a desk-type tray attached to each chair.

The chair was almost a lift chair.  It was comfortable, but it was huge. It was so big you could not put your arm around your spouse.  This is our popcorn watching the preview before the previews:

This is a picture of my legs watching the movie.

We did get one good picture, a selfie. My face does look like I swallowed all of the popcorn, but that did not happen.

It was a good movie, entertaining, but the most memorable thing may have been the movie theatre. It wasn't 2033, I can't imagine what going to the movies will be like ten years from now.

Chicken Parm a la Pasta

With the weekend coming up, how about one more delicious food story? My favorite food as many of you know, is chicken.  My favorite chicken would have to be chicken parmesan, although it's a close contest. (Big chicken roaster, barbecue chicken, and others)  Some of my family was going to an Italian restaurant and the next day, I got a picture of two of them with a plate in front of them that looked like this:
                                

From a distance I thought this was chicken parmesan piled on top of each other with pasta around it. You probably guessed it's a ridiculously good tasting cinnamon bun, or something like that. Can't you just see the pasta possibilities with the stacks of chicken parm piled on top?

I was craving chicken parm and my youngest daughter's boyfriend, (Jeff of course) started making it for dinner.  The first picture I call CP 3, (Not C-3PO from Star Wars)

This picture shows the two big trays of this delicious food:

My dinner plate looked like this and you can actually see the chicken parm smiling right at me because it knows how much I'm going to enjoy it.(The Mona Lisa of CP)

There was so much Chicken parm I ate it the next day for lunch and for dinner! I was in Chicken parm heaven.  I think this was the last plate I had.  I'm writing this before I eat dinner, not a good idea.  Anybody in the mood for Italian?

Eating BBQ in the Car

You should put this down on your bucket list, unless you've eaten barbecue in a car before. I did many years ago and I was driving.  It was messy, but delicious.  In Kansas City, Kansas on our trip, we made our second visit to Joe's Barbecue. In 1990, a guy named Jeff,(how about that) and Joy attended a barbecue contest and this is what Jeff said, "I loved everything about it.  The smoke. The smell of it.  The camaraderie. The competition. The passion. And of course, the food. I was hooked. I knew then and there this was something I had to do."

They won many contests cooking barbecue and then with a guy named Joe purchased the gas station/chicken place below and the rest is history.  They have a couple other locations in the Kansas City area and they ship out barbecue to the entire country. (Even South Carolina!)

When we arrived it was about 100 degrees and we could not sit outside and eat. We couldn't eat inside either with our dog, so we decided to eat barbecue in our car.  I have no idea  how much gas we used sitting in a shady spot, but that was the easy part.  Here I am below, eating a delicious rib with a lot of meat, while carefully trying not to mess up the car.  My wife took the picture, because I realized I could not hold the container and take a selfie at the same time. I am not that coordinated.

On the way home from Colorado, guess where we stopped for dinner? You got it, Joe's barbecue, the same location.  It was a little cooler and we sat in the shade and ate with our dog and had a great time.  We were on the road six days and we ate at Joe's twice. I wonder, Thanksgiving time, do they barbecue Turkey? 

Going The Extra Mile in St. Louis, Missouri

On our trip to and from Colorado we passed through part of St. Louis. Last year we stopped and saw the arch, this year we only stopped at the famous arches of McDonalds for some breakfast.

Only a couple weeks earlier I had read the story of a boy, Xavier Jones, who had no way of getting to his middle school graduation.  It was six miles away and his grandfather's car had broken down.  He wanted to walk across the stage at graduation, so he decided to walk to the ceremony.  He used google maps to find a path to school and with his brother and friend they walked 2 1/2 hours to the graduation.  Below is his picture getting his diploma

He received a standing ovation and the was awarded a full college scholarship. Harris Stowe University President, Dr. Latonia Collins Smith said, "When I heard that story and to see that young man who was so bright and excited and driven, it spoke volumes to me. It spoke resilience, persistence, perseverance." When he was told he was getting a free ride to college he thought at first he was getting transportation to college. 

Going the extra mile is always a plus and we need more of it from people of all ages in all fields.  At fourteen years old, this young man earned something very valuable and hopefully inspired others by his persistence.

Five Observations about Colorado

 A few things I thought of about Colorado during our vacation there:

1. SCENERY: It's amazing, absolutely amazing.  Every direction you look there are mountains.  You can't help but stare and enjoy the view no matter where you go.  When you go to the supermarket, the mountains are there, out to eat, the mountains are there.  Here's a view from the road that my wife took.

2. HIGHWAYS: There are a lot of them and they seem to have been built very well so you can get around to where you're going. Construction is ongoing which makes sense in a growing area. There were a lot of cars, but it's not New Jersey.

3. EXPENSIVE HOUSING: House prices have gone up dramatically almost everywhere, but in Colorado you're paying for the scenery.  We walked around a couple neighborhoods that supposedly had houses worth maybe $500,000 and it was difficult to see how that could possibly be. It looks like a great place to live, but....

4. WEATHER: I've been told that the best four seasons of weather in the country is in Colorado and that may be true. We had some cool days and some warm days that were not humid. You can drive an hour in a different direction and have very different weather. A few of the mountains had snow on the top and it was July, which of course looked pretty amazing.

5. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: Bikes were very visible, there are many places to hike and there were many parks and "green" areas.  Young people who love the outdoors have unlimited opportunities, including skiing.

We went to a flea market in the middle of Golden and right there was a very large stream with people  on rafts.  I took the picture below from a bridge looking upstream.  This was not in the middle of the woods. If you were trying to convince someone to move there, downtown Golden would make the sale.

If you've never been to Colorado, you need to go at least one time.

Watching Television at Hotels

I'm sure you heard the news that my wife and I do not have a television in our house and it's been like this for five years.  When we moved to South Carolina from New Jersey, we gave out set to our son and said that we'd buy a television when we were ready.  We're not ready, but we've been getting closer.  

However, we have had so much fun telling people that we don't have a television that it's tempting not to get one just so we can say we don't have one.  We don't miss it and every time we go to a hotel, we have the same experience.  We flip channels and find nothing to watch.

The first hotel we went to on our trip, we had a different experience.  After trying for five minutes to turn it on, I handed the remote off to my wife and she couldn't do it either.  We had someone at the front desk come up to our room and she said, "It's new, they forgot to program it." She said we would get a credit, which didn't happen.  Can you imagine, the couple who doesn't have a television getting credit because they couldn't watch television in a hotel?

A couple who I drive to and from the airport thinks it's hysterical that we don't have a television.  I forgot how many they have in their two places, but they have many.  I texted the wife and this was our conversation:

Me: Just thinking about you now.  Outside Nashville we got into our hotel and the tv does not work.  We have a hotel room, but no TV.

Her: Several laughing emojis-way too funny. We would have to go to another hotel.

Me: Can you request a broken tv? We're getting a discount on the room.  We didn't tell her we don't have a tv. Maybe we'll put it towards a grill?(We don't have that either and they have many)

Her: You are way too funny.

A couple hours later we shut off the lights to go to sleep and the television was glowing.  It didn't work, but it glowed.  My wife shut it off before I could get a picture of our glowing television.

On the way home, we had another television experience.  Some of the channels at a hotel looked perfectly messed up as this picture shows.

     

                           

Can we take a course on how to watch television? I'm not sure we know how to do it. We are talking about buying one and it really may happen this year! We may not get cable though.  If you have a TV, but don't have cable, are you really watching television?

The Perfect Picnic

One year ago, up in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains, we stopped at a rest stop.  The rest stop had to be cut out of the mountains and it's the welcoming stop for North Carolina.  When I first saw it last year, I said, "That's a perfect spot for a picnic lunch." It's a running joke between my wife and I.  I used to have these picnic lunches at rest stops on vacation when I was a kid, and there's nothing more fun than egg salad sandwiches with flies and bees circling around you. Still, I enjoyed them, but my wife has never liked them.

I was shocked one day earlier when my wife suggested we make sandwiches and have a picnic lunch.  I thought I was being tricked, but she meant it.  Below is the picture I took with the two of us that she finally agreed I could use.  I have to learn how to take a selfie with my eyes open.

I took a second picture which shows the scenery, but it also shows a little bit of her hair sticking up on the bottom.  It's a nice touch, don't you think?

Finally, the picture below shows the table that we ate at and the trees behind it.  From now on, every time we pass this rest stop I'm going to say, "There's our picnic paradise." I may tone it down a bit so I have a chance of eating there again.

George Harrison and "Here Comes The Sun"

The nice thing about having a lot of blog posts to write about one subject is that I can do them in any order I want. The first blog was about the entire trip and the second one is about the end of the trip.

The day before our trip ended was Tuesday and my wife and I were talking and there was music on as I was driving.  She said, "Aren't you tired of hearing, "Here Comes The Sun?" I told her I wasn't, because I really don't hear it too often.  I do have Sirius radio and I listen to the Beatle station when I'm Ubering, so I do hear it more than I used to, but it's a great song.

My wife said it was a good song, but I always sing it when we're traveling and the sun comes up.  She really meant that I sing it when the sun comes out. She's almost always sleeping at sunrise. But, it's my fault and I'm ruining the song for her.

George Harrison wrote "Here Comes The Sun," in 1969 and it is the one song that he is most identified with.  The Beatle's song, "Yesterday" has been covered the most by other singers, and  "Hey Jude" many recognize as the Beatle's best song. However, "Here Comes The Sun" is the most streamed Beatles song and has always been recognized as one of their best. I think it's the simplicity and the optimism in the song.  The sun comes out to brighten the day or to start the spring season, anyone can sing it. (Even me)

Later that day, I was driving down Rt. 57 on a highway alongside the small town of  Benton, Illinois.  I glanced over to my right and saw this alongside the highway.  It was so quick I thought it was John Lennon at first, but I couldn't figure out what I saw.

 

When I got home, I discovered that this 3-D mural was put up in 2017 and it cost $20,000.  It shows George Harrison and his adoring fans.  In 1963, only months before Beatlemania hit and he became famous, he visited his sister who lived there. The story of his visit was told to artist John Cerney, who made this out of plywood.

The next morning we walked out of our final hotel at 5 am.  My wife was getting everything ready in the car and suddenly said, "I have to get my sun glasses." On the radio was a female singer who was singing, "Here Comes The Sun."

As I drove down the highway with the sun coming up a half hour past Nashville, Tennessee, I was sure I heard George singing the last four words of his song to my sleeping wife, "It's alright, It's alright."

"Surprise, Surprise, Surprise"

Back in 1964, the television show, "Gomer Pyle, USMC. was on and actor Jim Nabors played the lead role for five years.(In The Marine Corps)  He was first introduced on "The Andy Griffith Show", another popular show in the sixties.  His most famous line was, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise."  In the seventies, Holiday Inn used to have advertise their hotels by saying, "The Best Surprise is No Surprise."

Actually, the best surprise is when you can surprise someone you love or people in your family.  My wife and I did that two weeks ago when we showed up in Colorado and surprised our oldest daughter and husband who were visiting and our youngest daughter and her boyfriend.  Our son and daughter-in-law recently bought a house there and we stayed with them for a week before switching houses for last weekend our youngest daughter's house.

Our son wanted us to jump out of a closet to surprise them since he was surprised like that on a visit to Myrtle Beach a few years ago.  We just opened the front door and yelled surprise and they certainly were.

I hope you're ready for another group of vacation blogs.  Surprisingly, I only took a couple pictures of mountains this time.  Below is an incredible picture taken by my oldest daughter.  The picture below that I took of a different mountain near my youngest daughter's house.  I kind of like the car with the headlights coming towards me with the mountain in the background, but that's just me.

I don't want to give anything away, but I've got unusual pictures, stories you won't see anywhere else and of course, some food stories too over the next several weeks.